Al-Isra · Makki · ayah 79 of 111

Al-Isra 17:79

وَمِنَ ٱلَّيْلِ فَتَهَجَّدْ بِهِۦ نَافِلَةً لَّكَ عَسَىٰٓ أَن يَبْعَثَكَ رَبُّكَ مَقَامًا مَّحْمُودًا

“And from [part of] the night, pray[769] with it [i.e., recitation of the Qur’ān] as additional [worship] for you; it is expected that[770] your Lord will resurrect you to a praised station.[771]”

Saheeh International

Essence

Rise from sleep to stand with the Quran, a gift upon a gift, and your Lord will raise you to a praised station.

A reflection

Standing at night, standing on the Day

Read this ayah slowly and you hear a word repeated in disguise. The night prayer is called qiyām al-layl, standing the night. The promise is a maqām, a standing-place. Both come from the same root: to stand upright and stay standing.

One classical commentator saw a link between them. Why should night prayer lead to the praised station? One answer, he wrote, is that the night prayer is seclusion with the Creator and intimate speech with Him, apart from people. So the one who stood alone with Him at night is given, on the Day, a standing before Him. A maqām, he added, is the place a person stands for weighty matters, like the stations before kings.

Hadith in both Sahihs tell what happens in that standing. On the Day of Resurrection people surge against one another in distress. They go to Adam and ask him to intercede. 'I am not the one for it,' he says, and sends them on. Ibrāhīm, Mūsā and ʿĪsā say the same. Then they come to the Prophet ﷺ, and he says: 'I am the one for it.'

What does he do first? He asks leave of his Lord and falls down in prostration. He is inspired with words of praise that, he said, he cannot recall now. Then he is told: raise your head. Speak, and you will be heard. Ask, and you will be given. Intercede, and your intercession will be accepted.

Notice the posture. The man who spent his nights with his forehead on the ground begins his station the same way. The night was the rehearsal for the Day.

Maḥmūd means praised, and the root carries a homely picture. Of a place where they found good shelter and pasture, the Arabs said: I found it maḥmūd. One narration in Sahih al-Bukhari adds that everyone gathered there will praise him.

The ayah asks something small of each of us in its shadow. Stand a little at night. That standing is never wasted.

The full entry has 7 more reflections, questions to sit with, and "Live it today" - with the words, the roots and the tafsir alongside. Free, no account, works offline.